2: The Ghost of Christmas Something Something, Part Three

The following morning was Andrew’s first final, which was in Intro to Philosophy. The final consisted of a short answer portion, and then an in-class essay that asked: “Based on what we’ve talked about in class and read in the texts, which philosopher that we’ve studied would be the best kisser, and why?” Confused, quiet, and nervous laughter filled the room as students read the question, and nobody seemed entirely sure if the professor was serious until about ten minutes into class.

Andrew wrote about how he thought Aristotle would make a fine kisser because he seemed a very giving and generous person. He wasn’t really sure if he was right or if it made any sense, but all the writing about kissing had Andrew frequently looking across the classroom at Linda, who didn’t look to be making much progress in her paper. She was wearing a grey Ramones shirt, a green jacket, and blue sweats this morning, and had the general appearance of one who had not been awake for very long, but that didn’t make her any less enticing to look at. Even then she looked perfect.

This was hardly the first time he’d thought about what it’d be like to kiss her, but it was among the most inconvenient. He could feel his face warming and his stomach fluttering and suddenly he felt like he was 14 and having a high school crush again. It wasn’t even necessarily a sexual thing, even though it was kinda that, he just wanted to be around her. Eventually he became conscious of how long he’d been staring at her and reluctantly got back to the exam.

Andrew finished before Linda did, so he waited for her on a bench just outside of the classroom building. When she came out ten minutes later, Andrew called out to her.

“Hey Andrew!” she said, walking over to him. She didn’t sit down. “What did you think of the test?”

“Weird. But kind of fun, I guess?”

“Yeah, definitely weird,” Linda agreed half-heartedly. Then suddenly her face lit up. “Oh hey! So are you going to the Winter Wonderland dance?”

“Oh, uh, no. I mean, maybe? I haven’t really thought about it yet.” Andrew immediately hated himself for that answer. This was his chance! But…what if she said no?

“Okay, well let me know when you figure it out, because I’m trying to arrange a dinner beforehand and then maybe a party at my place afterward. I just moved into this new place over the weekend and it’s got so much room! It’d be totally great!”

“Oh you moved? Where to?”

Linda started to respond but she was immediately interrupted by Katelyn calling Andrew’s name from behind him. She headed toward them carrying a small pink box. “Well, I’ll let you get to your friend,” Linda said. Andrew thought she sounded kind of disappointed. “I’ve gotta hurry home anyways. Let me know about the dance!” She was already bounding away, with a spring in her step as always, before Andrew could try to stop her. He watched her wistfully for several seconds before turning toward Katelyn.

“This school has a pretty poor understanding of Christmas decoration. We don’t even have wreathes! Do you understand how easy it is to put up a wreath? Also, good morning!” she said, thrusting the box toward Andrew. “I baked us both cupcakes to help us get through the first day of finals, though I know you already finished so it’s more celebratory than preparatory, but…”

“Awesome of you either way,” Andrew said, taking the box and opening it to reveal a white cupcake with too much rainbow frosting, like a child had dipped a brush in all the colors and swiped frantically at the top of the cake. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she said, reaching into her pocket to pull out her phone. She quickly responded to a text before looking back up at Andrew. “I like baking stuff for us. It reminded me of high school.” Then, “Anyways, how was your first final?”

Andrew told her about it as the two of them walked a little closer to the classroom building. Katelyn had forty-five minutes until her Biology final, but she was cold, so they headed in a little early. “I’m thinking about going to the Winter Wonderland dance,” Andrew started to say as they walked through the building.

Katelyn didn’t let him get any further. “You can’t!” she exclaimed, looking up from her phone. “Christmas Eve is the day of the shelter’s Christmas Feast!”

“I know, but what if I just help set it up? And then missed the actual dinner?”

“But that’s the payoff for all the work! And it’s gonna be the busiest day besides maybe the gifts on Christmas, why would you-wait.” Then she added, with an uncharacteristic cattiness that disturbed Andrew more than it should have. “Let me guess. Linda’s going?”

“That isn’t the point.”

Katelyn’s cheeks reddened. “That’s completely the point! You hate dances, and you told me you’d do this. And then the moment Linda comes into the picture that doesn’t matter anymore?” Andrew struggled to find a good response, especially because everything she’d said was true. “Andrew, you can’t do this! It’s December.”

Andrew let out a frustrated sigh. “I know. You’re right. I’ll think about it.” Katelyn still looked far from pleased. “If it means this much to you, I won’t go to the dance.”

Katelyn smiled as the color in her face returned to normal. “You won’t regret it, I promise. We’re gonna have fun and help people. It’ll be like being super heroes only we’ll use ham and Christmas trees instead of punching and magic lassos.”

“But honestly, what’s the difference?” Andrew joked insincerely. Katelyn and he were both about to say something else, but Andrew’s phone rang before they could speak. “It’s Connie.”

“Well, I guess I’ll head off to class super early, then,” Katelyn said. “Send Ms. Scrooge my regards!”

“Uh huh,” Andrew said, still staring at his phone in annoyance. “Good luck on your final.”

Connie started speaking as soon as Andrew answered the call. “It’s Connie. Steven just had to leave for personal matters. How soon can you be into work?”

“Two days in a row? Can’t you get somebody else?”

“Shall I put up a ‘now hiring’ sign as well?”

“I’ll head over right now. Can I be out by four thirty? I have to go nobly save the homeless around then.”

“Okay fine, as long as you’re here in the next forty minutes.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, and hung up the call.

***

“I think I can officially add ‘chauffeur’ to my resume, what do you think?” Eugene had said over the phone. “And, as your chauffeur, I expect to be paid, you know.”

So Andrew had reluctantly paid Eugene and the two of them were on their way to Connie’s Convenient Convenience Store. “You doing anything special for Christmas? Visiting your parents in…where did you say they were?”

“New York,” Andrew replied. “And they’re coming down here, actually. They’re gonna be staying at my grandma’s house starting on Saturday.” He was actually rather excited for that. He’d only seen his family twice since he’d started college. “How about you?”

“Yeah, I’m going to visit my family in Arizona,” he said. “I’m leaving on Friday.” He glanced over at Andrew and saw the mild look of surprise on his face. “Sorry I didn’t mention that sooner. I kind of forgot to mention it with everything else going on. That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Nah,” Andrew said, though that was only kind of true. He didn’t have any phobias about being left alone or anything, but it didn’t exactly sound appealing to be in the apartment all by himself. Though he supposed he’d have Millie around. And, if things went well, maybe Linda. ”How long are you going to be gone for?”

“Until January 10th, I believe. My sister is turning 16 on the 9th so I figured I’d stick around until then.” Suddenly Andrew’s head started racing ahead of reality, imagining the advantages of an empty apartment and a maybe a girlfriend. No, this would be good. He could work with this.

“Well, have fun at work,” Eugene said, pulling Andrew back from cloud nine and into the parking lot of Connie’s Convenient Convenience Store.

“I always do,” Andrew deadpanned as he climbed out of the car. “I’m taking a bus to the shelter right after work so I’ll be home late tonight.”

“I won’t wait up,” Eugene said, and Andrew closed the door.

Besides a few strips of wall and the newly boarded up window, the front of Connie’s Convenient Convenience Store was entirely see-through, so Andrew could see that the store was very nearly empty before he’d even entered. There was yelling coming from the cash register, which was obscured by the boards. One of the voices was definitely Connie’s, but he couldn’t exactly put his finger on the other voice, which was strange, because he’d heard it for hours on end two nights ago. It wasn’t until he got much closer to the store that Andrew realized that it belonged to the man who’d asked Andrew to perform The Passing the other day.

This of course raised a series of questions. Who the hell was this guy? Why the hell was he arguing with Connie? How the hell could Connie see him? What the hell was up with the undead incessantly haunting places where Andrew spent the majority of his time? And then, in his anger, the ghost was able to knock over a box of lottery tickets, which brought up another question: how the hell did he do that? Was Millie wrong about the rules of ghosts touching things?

Andrew doubted if he could answer any of these questions without opening the door, which would make a little ding sound, which would alert the ghost to his presence which would make it hard to get to the candles in time to do anything worthwhile. On the other hand, Connie’s expression had gone from merely angry and distraught to fearful. Was he threatening her?

Being as quiet as possible, Andrew quickly made his way around the back of the store. Fortunately, the back door was unlocked. Slowly, cautiously, Andrew stepped into the store.

As far as he could tell, he hadn’t drawn the ghost’s attention. “Why are you doing this, Ray?” Connie pleaded fearfully. “After Gilbert messed up you said you’d stay away. You said I’d never have to think about ghosts again.” As she was saying this, Andrew was quietly moving toward the aisle containing the candles.

“Dammit, Connie will you LISTEN to me?” Ray demanded. “Gilbert is dead. I need to leave and you’re the only person who can help me!”

To Andrew’s dismay, he found that there were no candles where they were supposed to be. They hadn’t restocked yet.

“Help you?” Connie asked. “Ray, they want to close down the store. They think it’s key to some murder investigation and I think your kind is to blame. There were candles, Ray.” Connie took a deep breath. It sounded like she was crying. “I’m fighting them, telling them there’s no need but I think they’re winning and this store is all I have. I need you and your kind out of my life, don’t you see?”

Andrew double checked the aisle and there wasn’t a candle in sight. He turned his attention to the scene unfolding at the register, hiding himself behind one of the many racks holding bags of chips. Connie’s face was tight, lines of stress plainly visible upon her forehead, and her eyes were red and full of tears. Ray’s eyes were narrowed but his face was otherwise unmarred by emotion. No creases appeared in his transparent flesh nor tears upon his deep, stalwart eyes.

“I do see,” he said, his stillness contrasting Connie’s shaking form. “And that’s what I need your help with. But I need to take you somewhere first.”

Connie closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. I’m sorry, Ray, but no. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Yes you are!” Ray shouted. Connie screamed as Ray went from standstill to lunging towards her far too quickly for her to react. Instead of Ray passing through Connie, or hitting her, as Andrew had anticipated, Ray had simply vanished.

Connie stood motionless. Silence filled the store. Andrew was just about to reveal himself when she raised her hand off the counter and up above her head. “Jesus Christ,” she said. But it wasn’t exactly her voice. As she spoke, another voice echoed along with her, distorting the sound. The result sent a chill down Andrew’s spine. “This is a lot harder than that old guy made it sound,” they said.

She’s possessed, Andrew realized with horror.

Ray seemed to get the hang of moving Connie’s body, because it wasn’t long before he had maneuvered her around the counter and began walking out of the store. Her eyes were opened wide, and Andrew couldn’t imagine what she must have been experiencing. He hoped he’d never have to. Just another reason not to be The Sandman.

When Ray/Connie exited the store, Andrew began slowly following after them. He was hoping that possession was disorienting enough that he wouldn’t be noticed when he followed after them. Before he headed out, he grabbed something by the register and turned the “open” sign around to “closed.” Ray made his way to Connie’s truck, a shabby old thing that was more nostalgia than motor-vehicle. Ray seemed to encounter technical difficulties as he tried to get the door opened, which Andrew took as his cue to risk running over to the right side of the truck. Either Ray was messing with him, or this worked as well, because he/she didn’t react to Andrew’s presence at all.

When Connie’s body finally opened the door to the truck and sat down, starting it wasn’t far behind. Andrew took this time to crawl into the open bed of the truck. Another stroke of luck - Ray proceeded without reacting to Andrew’s actions. Now he just needed to hope that nobody saw him laying in the back of a truck and that Ray could get them where he wanted to go without getting them all killed. Andrew couldn’t even drive a car in his normal human body, so he couldn’t imagine that driving a car while also driving Connie’s body would be anything less than impossible. Also, that thought really grossed him out.

He didn’t die, but the ride was far from pleasant. Every time the breaks were used, they were used suddenly and violently, lurching Andrew an inch or two off of the bed of the trunk each time, quickly leaving him with an aching back.

Meanwhile, Andrew was fumbling with his phone and looking up Ray Conwell. Again he got lucky on two accounts: lucky in that he was right that Ray was Connie’s late husband and lucky that Connie kept his last name. There was an article in the archives of Cierto Daily’s website about the night that Ray was shot and killed while walking home on Christmas Eve ten years ago. He had his wife’s present on him at the time - documentation confirming their ownership of a building from which they would start a join business venture, named after Connie at his insistence. He had all of the papers and a full wallet on him when he was found. The killer was never caught, and the motive remained a mystery.

By the time he’d read and processed all this information through all the bumping and dropping of his phone, the truck had come to a stop. The final destination, so far as Andrew could tell without exposing himself too much, was an alleyway in downtown Cierto. The truck was parked at the entrance of the alleyway, effectively blocking the vision of passersby, and, as far as Andrew knew, the only exit.

Ray/Connie stepped out of the car and walked a ways into the alley. Andrew dared to peek out a little more now. Ray was now several feet away from Connie, who had collapsed onto her knees. “What did you do to me?” she screamed, clearly terrified.

“Doesn’t matter. Look-” Ray said, stepping towards her.

“Stay away from me!” she shouted, rising to her feet and backing away from him. Andrew reached into his pocket, retrieving the objects he’d grabbed on his way out of the convenience store: some cigarettes and a lighter. It was a stretch, he knew, but if candles could work as a substitutes for torches, then why couldn’t cigarettes be a substitute for candles? Fire seemed to be the key element.

Ray halted his advance. He just stared at Connie, silently observing her pained and scared expression. “Do you know where we are?”

“Of course I do,” Connie said, her voice coming out in shaky breaths. “I’ll never forget this place as long as I live. I’ll never forget what you looked like when they-” she took a shaky breath. For just a moment Connie broke eye contact to look down at his chest, through which she could see the distorted form of Andrew laying objects on the ground.

“You’re lying!” Ray roared. “If you gave a damn about me you’d be helping me right now.”

Connie took another step back and shook her head. “No, Ray. No. That isn’t true. You’re scaring me. Please just let me go back to work.”

Ray ignored Connie’s plea. “What was it Gilbert said? For a ghost to pass on, he’s gotta be freed from whatever keeps him here?” he said. “You’re the only thing keeping me here, you know.”

“What are you saying?” Connie moved away once more, nearly stumbling over nothing. “Get away from me. Ray please.”

“It’s been ten years, Connie,” Ray said, and now it sounded like he might’ve been crying. “I tried to get help and nobody would listen and now you’re not listening. And I’m tired of waiting.”

“Andrew!” Connie screamed but it was too late. In two quick motions Ray grabbed a rock from the ground, and used it to hit Connie over the head. Andrew could hear the thud from across the alley. She crumpled to the floor immediately.

“Connie!” Andrew screamed involuntarily. Ray immediately whipped about and made his way across the alley toward Andrew. He might’ve looked brave, standing there, waiting for Ray to come to him, but the only thing rooting Andrew to the ground was a fear for his life and disgust and horror at what he’d just seen.

As Ray neared Andrew, rock floating irregularly in his hand - partially phased through his skin and partially in his grasp - he suddenly stopped, and his eyes widened with a look Andrew had now seen enough times to recognize: the look of someone who felt the chill of Oblivion. “Ray Conwell!” he wasted no time in shouting, but nothing happened. Andrew looked down to see several of the smoldering cigarettes fading away. They hadn’t lasted more than a few seconds. That was enough of a wake up call for him to run.

Andrew practically jumped into the bed of the truck and fumbled for his phone to call 911, but before he could even open up the keypad he felt himself being grabbed by the back of his shirt. Ray spun around and tossed Andrew, causing him to hit the dirt floor of the alley flat on his back.

“OH NOW YOU WANT TO HELP ME?” Ray screamed. “I just killed my wife and NOW you think it’s time to send me on my way? Kinda late, aren’t you, you little piece of shit?” He raised the rock above his head, poised to strike.

“Connie loved you!” Andrew shouted, shielding his face with his arms.

“Don’t talk ‘bout shit you don’t know anything about,” Ray said coldly. “Besides, you think that’s gonna help your case right now? After what you made me do to her?”

“I do know,” Andrew said, propping himself up on his arms and moving into a sitting position. “Did you know that your wife doesn’t even celebrate Christmas anymore? She seems extra bitter all through December, and not a single decoration goes up in her store. She doesn’t even give herself or her employees the day off.”

Ray let his arm fall to his side as he thought about this, but the rock remained in his grasp. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Andrew risked standing to his feet. “You were in her store. Did you see any decorations?” Ray grit his teeth and closed his eyes. “You know I’m telling the truth. She hates December. She hates it because she loves you.”

The alleyway fell unnaturally silent as Ray contemplated Andrew’s words, and in this stillness the faint shuffling of a body against the dirt was clearly heard. Ray opened his eyes and Andrew turned around to see Connie stirring slightly. Both of them immediately darted across the alley and Andrew fell to his knees at her side. She had a gash on her forehead where the rock hit her.

“Connie! Are you okay?”

Her eyes fluttered open and closed several times before she was finally able to make eye contact with Andrew. “I think…Yeah I think so.” She slowly touched her hand to her forehead and took in a sharp, pained breath. “Mostly.”

“Connie I’m so sorry,” Ray pleaded. “I didn’t mean it. I was confused.”

She didn’t even look at him. “We need to get out of here, Andrew,” Connie said after several seconds. She seemed to be getting more coherent. Andrew nodded, and began to help her up. She put a hand against the wall of the alley when she rose to her feet and the other to her head as she closed her eyes sharply. “I’m fine,” she breathed.

“Is it true that you keep your store open every Christmas?” Ray asked. Connie glared at him. “Do you do that for me?”

“Of course,” she said, her voice softer than her eyes, which remained fierce. “That day is the anniversary of the worst day of my life. Except for this one.”

Ray looked as though the words had physically struck him. “I…” he looked at the ground, and then back at Connie. “You’ll never see me again,” he said, “if you promise me one thing.”

Connie just stared. “She doesn’t owe you anything,” Andrew said with hostility.

“But she owes herself something,” Ray replied. “Take Christmas off. Celebrate it this year.”

She considered this, visibly struggling against her injury. “I-I don’t know,” Connie stuttered. “I can’t.”

“Please,” Ray said. “Do this for you. For us. And I’m gone.”

They just looked at one another for what felt like a minute, at least, a streak of blood making its way down the right side of Connie’s face. “Fine,” she said. “But you’re never showing up again.”

“I’ll perform The Passing,” Andrew added. Connie looked at him curiously. He must have looked the same. They had so many questions for one another. “I’ll call an ambulance,” he said.

“I’ve got a phone,” she said. “Get out of here and get rid of him before he hurts anyone else.” Ray’s mouth remained neutral but Andrew could see hurt in his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Andrew asked. “I can wait for the ambulance with you.”

“They’ll ask more questions that way. Just go,” she said. “Please.”

Andrew waited for her to call before he left. As he was walking out of the alley with Ray following behind, he turned back to face Connie once more. “Just one more thing,” he said.

***

When Andrew and Ray returned to the apartment, Eugene’s giant mass of cords was back, but he didn’t seem to be recording anything this time. And the lights were on. “That was it?” he asked, barely looking away from the screen of his computer, which must have arrived that morning.

“She let me go early,” Andrew said exhaustedly. “Also, we have a guest. Where are the candles?”

Eugene stopped what he was doing and looked at Andrew. “I liked it better when you brought guests I could see.” Eugene gestured toward the bookshelf. The candles were sitting on top of it.

“At least you have clothes this time.” Ray stood silently next to the door of the apartment as Andrew set the candles up in a circle and carefully lit them one by one. “You ready?” he asked.

“I think so,” Ray said. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” He crossed the room slowly, but his stride was confident. It grew less so just before he stepped into the circle, and the tension was palpable (not to Eugene, however, who had no idea where to look). When he finally crossed the threshold, the look of apprehension on his face gave way to one of relief. It was the first time Andrew had seen him smile. “It’s warm,” he said. “It’s been a pleasure.”

Andrew wished he could say the same. “Goodbye, Ray Conwell,” he said. Ray grinned and then, without so much as a sound, he was gone. Soft, natural-looking light filled the apartment and everything felt a bit warmer for a few moments, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Gonna tell us what that was about?” Eugene asked. It was then that Andrew noticed Millie standing in the entrance of the kitchen.

“Later,” Andrew said, collapsing onto the couch. “I’m taking a nap. Wake me up in an hour.”

“Uh-huh,” Eugene said absentmindedly as he turned his attention back to his computer.

Andrew found sleep surprisingly quickly considering that he had just seen his boss badly injured, left her in an alley, and sent her dead ex-husband to the afterlife. Or maybe that’s precisely why sleep came so quickly. It’d been a long day.

The next thing Andrew knew, his cellphone was ringing. He fumbled about for his phone to see who was calling. It was his cousin Curtis. It was also four o’clock. Only an hour before he had to meet Katelyn at the shelter. Before Andrew actually hit the button to accept the call, his phone had stopped ringing. A few seconds later, his phone informed him that he had a voicemail.

“Hey Andrew, it’s Curtis,” the voicemail began. “We got a letter from your family here. Thought you might want to pick it up soon, it being close to the holidays and all. Nobody’s gonna be home after seven so if you want it I recommend you stop by soon. See you!”

Great. More things to do.

“Millie!” Andrew called. She popped out of the kitchen. “Where is Eugene? He was supposed to wake me up!”

“Oh. He must not’ve heard you or something,” Millie said. “He went to take a final like an hour ago.”

He could worry about being mad at Eugene later. Within minutes Andrew was in the shower, feeling very frustrated. If he ran to the bus stop, he could make it to the next bus, but then where did he go first, to Steven’s house, or the shelter? And on top of that, he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with the whole Linda situation. If he didn’t ask her out now, he might never get another chance. She was a fairly popular girl, surely someone would ask her out soon if they hadn’t already. He had this plan to put a poster board in her car windshield asking her to the dance. It was so high school, he knew, but Linda liked that kind of thing.

He had to do it tomorrow, which meant he’d also have to acquire a poster board tonight, which meant he’d need to get his paycheck which had also been mailed to Steven and Curtis, so that worked out well. Katelyn would understand, right? Well, if that morning had been any indication, no, probably not. And like she’d said, it was December.

There was this one time, their Senior year of High School, when Katelyn had been invited to a Christmas party on the 24th by this boy named Eric that she’d had a crush on. Andrew hadn’t taken the news well. They’d been together on every Christmas Eve since they were seven without fail, and this Eric guy was coming in to jeopardize that. December had always been their month, and when Andrew brought this to Katelyn’s attention, she agreed almost without contemplation. She canceled her plans with Eric and they visited her uncle in the mountains instead. She taught Andrew to ski which was painful, but unforgettably fun. They built a family of snowmen and a little house. Andrew fed a carrot to a wild deer. It was one of the best few days of Andrew’s life.

At the very least, he owed her his honesty.

“Hey Katelyn,” he began texting as his bus departed from the stop across the street from the University Apartments. He couldn’t bear to say this over the phone. “I’m going to ask Linda to the dance. I’m sorry, but I think she’s gonna say yes and I like her too much to let this go. I hope you can understand. But I promise I will give 110% at the shelter until then. I even invited my boss to come help out sometime. See? Recruitment! I’m doing extra work already. I’m on the bus right now, and I have to stop by Curtis and Steven’s place first so I might be a little late. But I will be there.” He left out the part about needing to leave early to purchase art supplies.

Her response came within the minute, which was typical of Katelyn. “Don’t bother,” it read. He didn’t know what he expected.

As Andrew made the twenty minute trek from the bus stop to his old place, he felt kind of like shit. He knew he’d have to make it up to Katelyn somehow, but he didn’t feel like he could go without asking out Linda. If he let this opportunity go, he’d never forgive himself. He tried to use the walk to clear his head, but all he could think about was how exactly he’d go about asking Linda out, which probably made him an awful person but he couldn’t help it. Making it up to Katelyn was starting to feel like a lost cause, but Linda didn’t have to be. Katelyn would always be there, she was forever, but Linda was now, the kind of opportunity he could spend his life regretting if it passed him by.

Before he could figure out the solution one way or the other, he’d arrived at Steven’s house. It had only been a few days, but he already felt a sense of alienation from the place. Maybe it was because there was already a stranger living in there, or perhaps because so much had already happened at his new home. Either way, this experience was significantly more melancholy than he would have expected. Maybe a letter from his family could help cheer him up. With his best attempt at a positive attitude, he approached and knocked on the door to the house, sincerely hoping that Curtis answered the door and not Steven or his girlfriend.

“Hey Andrew! What are you doing here?” Linda asked as she opened the door.

Andrew was at a loss for words. He thought he may have been dreaming. “I, uh, I used to live here. What are you doing here?”

“I currently live here,” she said with a laugh. “So you’re Curtis’s cousin? Small world. You’re here for your mail, right? Would you like to come in?”

“No. No thanks. I’m kind of in a hurry,” he replied, trying his best to control his breathing. “Thanks though.”

“Alrighty, no problem,” Linda said cheerfully, without the slightest idea that Andrew’s world might as well have been crashing down around him. He felt his breathing constrict as she turned away and the pain of rejection flowed through his body. He felt dizzy. He took a deep breath, and he thought he heard her wish him a nice day, and he was pretty sure he said it was nice to see her before the door closed on his face, and he didn’t even remember taking the letters or opening them but suddenly he was reading an early Christmas card from his family, the kind of thing that got sent to everyone they know but with the names changed, and it said they were going on a vacation in Europe this Christmas, meaning they wouldn’t be at his grandma’s house this Saturday, and this was the first he was hearing of it, and then suddenly Curtis was standing over him because he’d collapsed to his knees on the sidewalk which he didn’t remember doing, and he was helping Andrew to his feet, and he’d shaved his hair, leaving little left, and he was wearing a basketball jersey for a team Andrew knew he should have known but didn’t, and then finally, with a deep breath, sound and reality and time all realigned and he was present.

“Are you okay, man?” Curtis asked. This should have been an easy question to answer. No, he wasn’t okay. He didn’t have a beautiful awesome drummer girlfriend, he didn’t have plans for Christmas, he didn’t have a family that told him things, his roommate was abandoning him for half a month, his boss had been brained by a ghost a few hours ago, and he betrayed the only person in his life who could actually make any of this better. “What happened? Do you need me to take you home?”

“Can you drive me somewhere else, actually? I’ll explain things on the way there.”

***

Cierto’s Shelter for the Homeless was a bit more crowded than the previous day, if only because there were now about fifteen volunteers putting up decorations. A few of those less fortunate were helping decorate as well, including Tori and Garrett, which would have pleased Andrew considerably if he were in a mood in which happiness could register.

Katelyn wasn’t too hard to find - Andrew had experience in finding her in a crowd. She was in the back left corner of the room, near where the TVs were, and she was decorating a Christmas tree. Tara was with her, and they seemed to be talking. She saw Andrew before she said anything, and her expression only told him what he’d already known - that she didn’t want him to be there - but when she saw his facial expression, which probably told her that he didn’t want to be anywhere, her face softened.

“Hey,” Andrew said, not knowing what he could possibly say to make her forgive him.

“You have a lot of nerve coming down here,” Tara said, but Katelyn put a hand on her shoulder to tell her it was okay. Tara glared at Andrew, and then went back to placing a bulb on the tree.

“Hey,” Katelyn replied. ”I didn’t think you’d show up.”

“I, uh, I didn’t feel like going anymore,” Andrew said, in what may have been the worst lie in human history.

“We were always too cool for dances,” she said, forcing a smile.

They stood there awkwardly for a bit as Andrew fought the urge to collapse. “Eugene’s going out of town for the holidays and I was wondering, would it be weird if I stayed with your family?”

Katelyn laughed once and shook her head. “Do you even have to ask?”

She hugged him. He knew he didn’t deserve it, and she knew it, too, but for right now, they could forget about that. It was December, after all, and they had a tree to decorate.